ALTO -- If you’ve always wanted to go on an African safari, you don’t have to jump continents to get up close and personal with some of the region’s creatures — you can get your exotic wildlife fix by heading to Alto.

Tucked away among cornfields, Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park sits on 80 acres. Greeting you will be an enthusiastic, crocodile hunter-esque character named Rick the Reptile Guy, a fearless animal lover who spends his time jumping into the cages of 32-foot plus pythons and sticking his hands inside the fences of the park’s most dangerous creatures.

“It’s very hands on,” said the Reptile Guy, aka Rick DeRidder. “If the kids have any questions or want me to get any animal out for them I can do it.”

Although the park just opened to the public July 30, the exotic animals have been living on the Alto property for years. Park owners Dave and Dawn Hoekstra began collecting and breeding animals 20 years ago. While many of the animals are indigenous to Africa, all of them were bred in the United States, Dave Hoekstra said.

The collection began with deer, elk and birds. Hoekstra continued adding unusual animals to his acreage until he had a backyard bounty that could rival a zoo. His park’s collection includes zebras, emus, two types of wildebeest, bison, water buffalo, multicolored parakeets and pronghorn antelope — the second-fastest land animal on Earth — to name a few.

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Hoekstra, who owns Hoekstra Excavating Inc., finds spending time with his animals after a hard day’s work supremely relaxing.

“Stress relief — when you get done working you can go talk to the animals,” Hoekstra said, chuckling. “They don’t talk back.”

Hoekstra was content keeping his animal sanctuary a hidden secret until DeRidder entered the picture in early 2010. One look at Hoekstra’s landscape, and DeRidder convinced Hoekstra to let him add his collection of reptiles, including a reticulated python that spans 32 feet, the largest alligator living in Michigan and an Asian spurred tortoise.

Next, DeRidder persuaded Hoekstra to allow the public to traipse around his property and check out the creatures.

“This is awesome. You need to share it with the public,” DeRidder told Hoekstra.

DeRidder lights up like a kid in a toy store when he talks about his reptiles. He knew he wanted to spend his life working with reptiles when his father, who was a child of missionaries, told him the story of seeing a tree branch fall on a deer and eat it. The branch turned out to be a python.

“Once my dad told me the story ... I was hooked,” DeRidder said, before scaling the wall of a cage to pick up a giant Asian water monitor lizard to show off how the animal puts its arms on DeRidder’s shoulders and hugs him.

The cassowary — a large bird, closely related to the emu, with a horny growth on its head — is one of the main attractions at the park. It’s the most dangerous bird in Michigan due, in part, to the second toe on each foot sporting a daggerlike claw. There are only two in Michigan, and both are housed at the park, DeRidder said. Another favorite is the eland, an animal that can jump eight feet high from a standstill.

Hoekstra’s hope is visitors enjoy and discover new things from the creatures that have kept him company all these years.

“That’s kind of what we are after, is for people to learn and just have a place to come and relax and enjoy the animals,” he said.

DeRidder admits he is a bit nervous about the venture.

“If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, he’s going to kill me,” he said, laughing.